Turns out Taylor Swift’s upcoming album release, “The Tortured Poets Department,” could have a more personal meaning than usual. Genealogy company Ancestry found that the mega pop star is related to famed American poet Emily Dickinson, TODAY first reported. They are sixth cousins, three times removed.
According to Ancestry, Swift and Dickinson are both descendants of Jonathan Gillette, a 17th century immigrant and early settler of Windsor, Connecticut. Gillette is Swift's ninth great-grandfather and Dickinson's sixth great-grandfather.
“Taylor Swift’s ancestors remained in Connecticut for six generations until her part of the family eventually settled in northwestern Pennsylvania, where they married into the Swift family line,” Ancestry told TODAY.
Prior to the latest revelation, Swift has referenced Dickinson several times while sharing and speaking about her music. Swift released her ninth studio album, “Evermore,” on Dec. 10, 2020, which is Dickinson's birthday. Fans also drew parallels to Swift's album title and Dickinson’s poem called “One Sister Have I in Our House,” which includes the word “forevermore.”
While discussing the cover of her eighth studio album, “Folklore,” Swift told Entertainment Weekly she had an idea for “this girl sleepwalking through the forest in a nightgown in 1830,” which is the year Dickinson was born.
In 2022, Swift referenced the 19th century poet while receiving the Songwriter-Artist of the Decade Award from the Nashville Songwriters Association International: “If my lyrics sound like a letter written by Emily Dickinson’s great-grandmother while sewing a lace curtain, that’s me writing in the Quill genre.”
